University of Wisconsin-Madison

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• Incoming exchange

2 per semester

Fall Semester: Early September – Late December 
Spring Semester: Mid-January – Mid-May

English

You can find the course catalogue here. 

There are three levels of courses at Wisconsin: Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced. Check the course for the difficulty level, as the course number does not designate the level.

Madison credits convert to ECTS by multiplying by 2; i.e. 1 Madison credit = 2 ECTS. So, 15 Madison credits correspond to a full course load at UCU (30 ECTS).

WISC uses an A-F system that differs slightly from the UCU-system: no plusses and minuses are used. See below table: 

Students have to arrange housing themselves. They can apply for university housing, but this is their own responsibility. You’ll have the choice between residence halls (double rooms) with dining facilities and no kitchen or apartments (single rooms) in which you share a kitchen and bathroom with a few people. In Spring, many Madison students go on exchange themselves, so you could ‘sub-rent’ their room. More information.

Because especially the off-campus housing costs vary greatly, an overview cannot be given. The Exchange Handbook of WISC estimates that a one-semester exchange student would spend $9,000 (€7400) on average. This includes insurance, transportation, clothes, food, housing and books. 

There is a short Exchange Orientation program of one day at the beginning of the semester. However, throughout the first week of classes, several social events are planned, such as the student organization fair. 

You can also sign up for the BRIDGE Program to be assigned a buddy to help you get to know the university. 

The university is located in Madison, Wisconsin, a town of almost 300,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the state and is located between two lakes. 

Its climate is continental: it has much colder winters than Utrecht and slightly warmer summers. 

There are about 45,000 students at the university. It has a large campus with historical buildings located in the city of Madison. Check out the campus map here. 

As is the case with most American universities, there are hundreds of student organizations which engage in all sorts of activities, as well as extensive sports facilities and clubs (for a fee). Click here for more general information. 

Previous exchange students considered that the University of Wisconsin has a very high academic level. You’re advised to be on time with registering for courses, otherwise the ones you prefer are already full. It is suggested to live in one of the apartments and not in the residences as mostly 1st and 2nd years do so and you’ll thus be surrounded by younger people. So, either get a room from an American student who is on exchange or live in the International buildings Saxony or Lucky’s. Living off-campus is also a good option: many non-freshmen do so as well and it’s quite a bit cheaper. If you want to experience College life in a typical American college town: go to Madison!